Laminated container of thermoplastic and nonthermoplastic materials with nipples

ABSTRACT

A plastic bag comprising an inner thermoplastic layer and an outer nonthermoplastic layer is disclosed having at least one connection nipple, which by means of a thermoplastic covering foil is welded to the thermoplastic inner layer of said bag so that a liquidtight connection is obtained.

United States Patent Waage Feb. 15, 1972 [54] LAMINATED CONTAINER OF[56] References Cited THERMOPLASTIC AND UNITED STATES PATENTSNONTHERMOPLASTIC MATERIALS 3 m8 732 10/1963 C l 150/] UX w IPPLES urleet a 1TH N 2,584,632 2/1952 Southwick ...l50/l UX [72] Inventor: Bard M.Waage, Knivsta, Sweden 2,337,257 12/1943 Levinston ..l50/8 X 3,205,889 91965 Ald t l. ..ISO 8 X [731 Amgnee: Zug, Swltzerland 3,030,955 4/19620052253211. ..l28/272 [22] Filed: Nov. 13, 1969 Primary ExaminerLe0nardSummer PP N05 876,365 Attorney-Albert M. Parker [30] Foreign ApplicationPriority Data [571' ABSTRACT A plastic bag comprising an innerthermoplastic layer and an Nov. 21, 1968 Sweden ..l5,883/68 outernomhermoplastic layer is disclosed having at least one connectionnipple, which by means of a thermoplastic cover- [52] US. Cl ..150/8,128/272 ing foil is welded to the thermoplastic inner layer of said bag[5 l Int. Cl. "865! 47/10, A61] 1/00 so that a liquidtight Connection isobtained. [58] Field oiSeareh ..150/0.5, l, 8,12; 128/272 3 Claims, 4Drawing Figures PATENIEDFEB 15 F972 ATTORNEY LAMINATED CONTAINER OFTHERMOPLASTIC AND NONTIIERMOPLASTIC MATERIALS WITH NIPPLES The presentinvention relates to a baglike plastic container having at least oneconnection nipple attached in a liquidtight manner, the container beingmanufactured from laminated plastic having an inner thermoplastic layerand an outer nonthermoplastic layer and a method of attaching suchconnection nipples.

In many fields, particularly medical care, baglike plastic containersare usedto an ever increasing extent. Because of the rapid developmentin the field of plastics it is now possible to manufacture relativelythin laminated plastic which fulfills the specific requirements for eachparticular case. Apart from the fact that is must be possible to weldtogether such plastic containers, it is also a requirement that thematerial of the container does not affect the contents, for example insuch cases when the containers are to be used for medical purposes, forexample for storing blood or organic tissue, for storing andadministering medicinal preparations such as infusion solutions or thelike. At the same time, the outside of the container must givesufficient protection against damage from the exterior, and the materialshould also be somewhat translucent. Finally, such container materialshould be able to withstand considerable variations in temperature,i.e., both a sterilization temperature of about 200 C. and a temperatureof 200 C. if the product is to be deep-frozen in, for example, liquidnitrogen.

It has been found suitable for this purpose to use container materialconsisting of laminated plastic having an inner thermoplastic layer andan outer nonthermoplastic layer. The difficulty has previously been withsuch containers that it has been impossible in a satisfactory way tosupply baglike containers manufactured from such materials withliquidtight connection nipples. This is of particular importance forcontainers primarily intended for storing the contents and then alsoacting as, for example, an infusion unit. It is in this case nec ssaryfor a rapid and tight cannular connection to be effected, while stillmaintaining sterile conditions. Such a connection must also beabsolutely tight during storage of the container and it shouldpreferably be possible to keep the connection sterile until it is to beused so that a sterile cannular tube can be attached to the connectionin a satisfactory way from the sterility point of view. Furthermore, itshould also be possible to reseal the container after some of thecontents have been removed so that the container can be stored until thenext time it is to be used.

It has now proved possible to fulfil the requirements stated above bymeans of the present invention and substantially characteristic of theinvention is that the connection nipple consisting of a thermoplasticmaterial is welded to a thermoplastic covering foil covering an openingin the container and welded to the inner thermoplastic layer of thecontainer material inside the container around said opening.

The connection nipple is suitably inclined with respect to the coveringfoil, its end part situated near the covering foil being correspondinglyinclined.

A liquidtight attachment to the container material is thus achievedwhich does not, however, communicate with the inside of the containersince the covering foil is sealed around the opening inside the bag andis also sealed to the open end of the connection nipple, thus acting asa membrane in the connection nipple.

In order to guarantee that the inner surface of the connection nippleremains sterile during storage, the open end of the connection nipple isprovided with a snap-on lid of a type known-per se. This means thatwhen'such a container is sterilized, the inside of the connection nippleis also sterilized and this sterility is maintained up to themoment ofuse. The lid is then removed and a sterile cannular tube inserted in theconnection nipple, puncturing the covering foil and then communicatingwith the contents.

Since the inner sides of the container material facing each otherconsist of a thermoplastic material and can thus easily be weldedtogether, it is possible after using a certain amount of the contents toreseal the container in such a way that the previously used connectionnipple is situated outside the container space itself. In order to beable to repeat the process at a later date the container shouldpreferably in such cases be provided with several such nipples, forexample located at the comers ofthe container so that these can easilybe sealed from the actual container space.

With the method proposed according to the invention for attaching suchconnection nipples an opening is first made in the container materialand this opening is then covered from the inside of the container with acovering foil having somewhat greater dimensions than said opening,after which the covering foil which either consists entirely of athermoplastic material or at least has a thennoplastic layer on the sidefacing the container material, is welded to the inner thermoplasticlayer of the container material around the opening, after which theconnection nipple consisting of an open, tubular body of a thermoplasticmaterial, is welded to the thermoplastic surface of the foil coveringthe opening.

In the following the invention will be described with reference to theaccompanying drawings, where FIG. 1 shows a connection nipple accordingto the invention applied on a container,

FIG. 2 the nipple according to FIG. 1 connected to a cannular tube,

FIG. 3 a plastic container provided with four such connection nipples,seen from above, and

FIG. 4 a side view of the container shown in FIG. 3.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show part of a container manufactured from laminatedplastic and comprising an inner layer 1 of thermoplastic material and anouter layer 2 of nonthermoplastic material. Since the thermoplasticlayers face each other the container can easily be weldedtogether alongits edges. The inner, thermoplastic layer 1 of the laminated plastic mayconsist, for example, of fluorinated ethylene propylene and the outernonthermoplastic layer 2, 'for example, of polyimide. The production andcharacteristics of a polyimide film are described in the articleH-'Film- A New High Temperature Dielectric by Leonard E. Amborski, I&ECProduct Research and Development, vol. 2, No. 3, Sept. I963, pp.l98-l93. As can be seen from the drawings, there is a hole 3 in one wallof the container and a connection nipple 4 having substantially circularcross section and oblique lower part 5 is inserted in this opening 3 andwelded to a plastic foil 6 covering this opening from the inside. In theembodiment shown in the drawings this covering foil 6 consists of thesame laminated plastic as the rest of the container material, but itsthermoplastic layer 7 faces the inner'thermoplastic layer 1 of thecontainer and is welded to this around the opening 3. Of course it isalso possible to use a plastic material for the covering foil whichconsists entirely of a thermoplastic material. The connection nipple 4is also made of a thermoplastic material so that the end part 5 can bewelded to the covering foil 6. In this way it is ensured that thecovering foil 6 is sealed to the connection nipple 4 and also that it issealed to the inside of the container around the opening 3, in additionclosing the lower end 5 of the attachment'nipple 4. The opposite end ofthe attachment nipple finishes in a flange 8 which has a removable lid9. Inside the flange 8 are a number of projections 10 directed radiallyinwards and arranged to cooperate with a groove 12 in a cannularattachment 11 to fix the position of a cannular tube 13 in the flange8,.as seen in FIG. 2. The length of the cannular tube should be suchthatthe covering foil 6 at the bottom of the connection nipple 4 isperforated by the cannular tube without the point 14 also penetratingthrough the opposite side of the container. Thus, instead of thecannular tube shown in the drawings, it is preferable to use plasticcannular tubes for transfusion, known per se, with an angled point, forinstance.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show a suitable arrangement of such connec tion nipples ina container intended for storage, deep-freezing and administeringblood-transfusions. The container shown in F I68. 3 and 4 is suitablymanufactured of the same container material as that in FIGS. 1 and 2 andhas four connection nipples placed one in each corner of the container.The container is in this case also provided with pockets 15 on theoutside into which identification slips 16 can be inserted. Thecontainer is also provided on its short sides with holes 17 for ahanging means in the form of a yoke 18. The container is welded togetheralong an outer welded seam 19 by which the pockets are also separatedfrom the inside of the container. It is clear from the embodiment shownin FIGS. 3 and 4 that, if necessary, it is easy to seal the containeragain after some of the contents of the container have been removed. Forexample, a weld may be made between an outer edge of the container andthe lower edge of the pocket 15, as shown by the broken line 20. In thisway the connection nipple 4' is effectively separated from the contentsof the container when the contents has been partially removed throughthe connection nipple 4.

I claim:

1. A baglike plastic container having at least one connection nippleattached thereto in a liquidtight manner, the container beingmanufactured from laminated plastic having an inner thermoplastic layerand an outer nonthermoplastic layer, wherein said connection nipple isof thermoplastic material, an inner end of said nipple being welded to athermoplastic covering foil which covers an openingin the container;said covering foil being welded to the inner thermoplastic layer of thecontainer material inside the container around said opening; and whereinthe connection nipple is inclined with respect to said covering foil,the inner endof said nipple having a corresponding inclination where itis welded to said covering foil; an outer end of the connection nippleopposite the end welded to the covering foil having an opening flangewith a removable lid.

2. Container according to claim 1, wherein said opening flange has anumber of projections directed inwardly and arranged to snap into acorresponding groove in a cannular attachment for insertion of theattachment into the flange when said removable lid has been removed.

3. Container according to claim 1, wherein the container is providedwith a plurality of connection nipples.

i i i 1U

1. A baglike plastic container having at least one connection nippleattached thereto in a liquidtight manner, the container beingmanufactured from laminated plastic having an inner thermoplastic layerand an outer nonthermoplastic layer, wherein said connection nipple isof thermoplastic material, an inner end of said nipple being welded to athermoplastic covering foil which covers an opening in the container;said covering foil being welded to the inner thermoplastic layer of thecontainer material inside the container around said opening; and whereinthe connection nipple is inclined with respect to said covering foil,the inner end of said nipple having a corresponding inclination where itis welded to said covering foil; an outer end of the connection nippleopposite the end welded to the covering foil having an opening flangewith a removable lid.
 2. Container according to claim 1, wherein saidopening flange has a number of projections directed inwardly andarranged to snap into a corresponding groove in a cannular attachmentfor insertion of the attachment into the flange when said removable lidhas been removed.
 3. Container according to claim 1, wherein thecontainer is provided with a plurality of connection nipples.